Glossary Terms beginning with the letter E :

Equal Opportunities
Equal opportunities is about giving people the right to be treated fairly in employment, education and services and not discriminated against on the grounds of their sex, race or disability. Equal Opportunities legislation protects these groups of people but employer's policies usually extend this protection to cover discrimination on any grounds. By 2006 there will be further legislation covering discrimination on sexual orientation, religion and age. (Also, see Diversity)

Equal Pay
Equal pay means that men and women receive the same level of pay as employees of the opposite sex who are performing equal work. Any differences must be objectively justifiable by reasons unrelated to Equal Pay Act.

Equal Value
Work which is different in nature but of equal value is regarded as equal when assessed as equal under such headings as effort, skill and decision. The assessment process must be analytical and free of sex bias. It will normally involve a process of job evaluation.

Equality
Equality is recognising that discrimination is unacceptable regardless of people's gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origin, marital status, age, colour, disability, carer status, or social background. To treat everybody with equality does actually mean to treat people differently with equity, as we all have very different needs and requirements.

Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
The EHCR came into being on 1 October 2007. It combines the responsibilities and powers of the three previous equality commissions. (Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission).
The EHCR champions equality and human rights for all, working to eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, protect human rights and to build good relations, ensuring that everyone has a fair chance to participate in society.

Ethnic
An adjective used to refer to a group of individuals who share and identify with certain common traits, such as language, ancestry, homeland, history, and cultural traditions.

Ethnic groups
Subgroups within a larger society or cultural order that are distinguished by their national religious linguistic cultural and sometimes racial background.

Ethnic Minority
The CRE uses the term ethnic minority, not minority ethnic, BME, or visible minority. Ethnic minority, in the CRE's usage, includes members of white minorities (such as Irish), unless it is stated that the term is being used in a narrower sense (excluding all white groups) which is sometimes necessary if the term relates to statistics produced by other bodies using this narrower definition.

Ethnic Monitoring
Means the process of collecting and analysing information about people's racial or ethnic origins to see whether all groups are fairly represented.

Ethnicity
There exists more than one definition for ethnicity. It can be used to describe how people are defined, differentiated, organized and entitled to group membership based on shared physical or cultural characteristics. Ethnicity can also be used in reference to a consciously shared system of beliefs, values, practices and loyalties shared by members of a group who perceive themselves as a group. Ethnicity can essentially be thought of as an attachment that a person or a group feels towards a common cultural heritage.